Royal Air Force Bomber
Command 60th Anniversary

Campaign Diary
May 1944

Day Operations, 1-21 May 1944

On 6 days during this period, Bomber Command Oboe Mosquitos flew as
'formation leaders' in Second Tactical Air Force attacks on small targets
in Northern France. There were no losses from the 12 Bomber Command
sorties flown.

1/2 May 1944

131 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the aircraft
assembly factory and an explosives factory at Toulouse. Both targets
were hit and no aircraft were lost.

Chambly: 120 aircraft - 96 Lancasters, 16 Stirlings, 8 Mosquitos -
of Nos 3 and 8 Groups. 3 Lancasters and 2 Stirlings lost. Chambly, to
the north of Paris was the main railway stores and repair depot for
the Northern French system which the Allied bombers were trying to put
out of action. The local report (provided by the office of the present
Chief Engineer at Chambly) shows that the raid was extremely successful.
Approximately 500 high-explosive bombs fell inside the railway depot
area and serious damage was caused to all departments. The depot was
completely out of action for 10 days.

75 Lancasters of No 1 Group attacked the Berliet motor worksat Lyon.
The factory was badly damaged and nearby railways and factories were
also hit. There is no local report to say whether civilian casualties
were caused. No aircraft were lost.

46 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group carried out an accurate
attack on aircraft-repair workshops at Tours. The main buildings were
completely destroyed. No aircraft lost.

28 Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen and 2 to Achères, 9 RCM sorties,
16 Serrate and 18 Intruder patrols, 32 Halifaxes and 3 Stirlings minelaying
off the French coast and in the Frisians, 40 aircraft on Resistance
operations. 1 Serrate Mosquito lost.

2/3 May 1944

29 Mosquitos to Leverkusen and 7 to Achères, 2 RCM sorties, 9
Stirlings minelaying in the Frisian Islands. No losses.

3/4 May 1944

346 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 5 Groups and 2 Pathfinder
Mosquitos to bomb a German military camp situated close to the French
village of Mailly. 42 Lancasters lost, 11.6 per cent of the force. The
control of this raid in the target area failed to operate according
to plan. The initial low-level markers were accurate and were well backed
up by Lancaster marker aircraft. The 'Marker Leader', Wing Commander
Cheshire, ordered the Main Force to come in and bomb but the 'Main Force
Controller', Wing Commander LC Deane, could not transmit the order to
do so to the waiting Lancasters because his VHF radio set was being
drowned by an American forces broadcast and his wireless transmitter
was wrongly tuned. German fighters arrived during the delay and bomber
casualties were heavy. The main attack eventually started when the Deputy
Controller, Squadron Leader ENM Sparks, took over. Approximately 1,500
tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy. 114 barrack buildings,
47 transport sheds and some ammunition buildings in the camp were hit;
102 vehicles, including 37 tanks, were destroyed. The night-fighter
attacks continued over the target and on the return route. Among the
aircraft shot down was that of Squadron Leader Sparks, who had stayed
over the target to the end. Sparks evaded capture and soon returned
to England. The squadrons of No 1 Group, which made up the second wave
of the attack, suffered the most casualties - 28 aircraft out of their
173 dispatched. No 460 (Australian) Squadron, from Binbrook, lost 5
out of its 17 Lancasters on the raid.

84 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos attacked a Luftwaffe airfield at Montdidier
and caused much damage among buildings and installations on the northern
part of the airfield. 4 Lancasters lost.

5/6 May 1944

6/7 May 1944

149 aircraft - 77 Halifaxes, 64 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4
and 8 Groups attacked railway installations in the Gassicourt suburb
of Mantes La Jolie, to the west of Paris. 2 Lancasters and 1 Halifax
lost. Bomber Command's records state that 'stores depots and locomotive
sheds' were severely damaged but the local report shows that some of
the bombing fell outside the railway objective. The western part of
the town - including 'old Mantes', the suburb of Gassicourt and the
hamlet of Dennemont - were all bombed.

64 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked an ammunition
dump at Sable Sur Sarthe which was destroyed by 'enormous explosions'.
No aircraft lost.

52 Lancasters of No 1 Group attacked an ammunition dump at Aubigne
accurately and the entire target was destroyed. 1 aircraft lost. The
only Lancaster shot down on this raid, from No 576 Squadron, contained
a senior officer who was flying as second pilot. This was Air Commodore
R Ivelaw-Chapman, who was commanding a 'base' (usually 3 airfields)
in No 1 Group. Ivelaw-Chapman had only just taken up this position after
a staff job in which he had had access to details of the coming invasion.
There was great anxiety in England that, if he became a prisoner of
war, the Germans might hand him over to the Gestapo for questioning.
He was taken prisoner but the Germans never realized his importance
and he was treated in the normal manner.

7/8 May 1944

56 Halifaxes of No 6 Group and 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos attempted to
bomb a coastal gun position at St Valery near Dieppe but just missed
the target. No aircraft lost.

58 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked an ammunition
dump at Salbris. The bombing was accurate and much damage was caused
but 7 Lancasters were lost.

53 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group bombed the airfield at
Tours and caused much damage. 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito lost.

55 Lancasters of No 1 Group bombed the airfield and an ammunition dump
at Rennes. The force was not able to locate and mark the target adequately
and most of the bombs fell on a nearby village. No aircraft lost.

28 Mosquitos to Leverkusen and 4 to Châteaudun, 5 RCM sorties,
12 Intruder patrols, 42 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and in the
River Gironde, 39 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 Halifaxes lost
dropping supplies to the Resistance.

Total effort for the night: 471 sorties, 12 aircraft (2.5 per
cent) lost.

58 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the airfield and
seaplane base at Lanveoc Poulmic near Brest with great accuracy. 1 Lancaster
lost.

31 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos scored direct
hits on a coastal gun position at Morsalines on the Cherbourg peninsular.
1 Halifax lost.

32 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 7 Pathfinder Mosquitos attacked a gun
position at Berneval but only 1 aircraft hit the target. Most of the
bombing was 600-700 yards from the gun position. No aircraft lost.

30 Lancasters of No 3 Group and 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos located a gun
position at Cap Griz Nez but no hits were scored. No aircraft lost.

Total effort for the night: 452 sorties, 12 aircraft (2.7 per
cent) lost.

'Wimpeys' Still on Ops

9/10 May 1944

414 aircraft - 206 Halifaxes, 180 Lancasters, 28 Mosquitos - attacked
7 coastal gun batteries in the Pas de Calais area. Four of the positions
were claimed to have been hit. 1 Lancaster lost while bombing the Mardyck
position.

56 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Gnome & Rhone
factory at Gennevilliers and another factory near by. 5 Lancasters lost.

39 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to a small ball-bearing
factory at Annecy on the France-Switzerland border. Weather en route
was very bad and only 2 Mosquito marker aircraft reached the target,
but the factory was accurately bombed. No aircraft lost.

10/11 May 1944

506 aircraft - 291 Lancasters, 187 Halifaxes, 28 Mosquitos - to bomb
railway yards at Courtrai, Dieppe, Ghent, Lens and Lille. No post-raid
reconnaissance was carried out at Dieppe and results of the raid there
are not known. All other raids were successful, although some bombs
fell on nearby civilian housing. 12 Lancasters lost from the No 5 Group
raid to Lille and 1 Lancaster lost from the Dieppe raid.

Total effort for the night: 618 sorties, 14 aircraft (2.3 per
cent) lost.

11/12 May 1944

190 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group, with 3 Mosquitos of No
8 Group, were dispatched to attack a large military camp at Bourg Léopold
in Belgium. Haze hampered the marking of the target and the Master Bomber
ordered the raid to be abandoned, for fear of hitting the nearby civilian
housing, after 94 Lancasters had bombed. 5 Lancasters lost.

Boulogne: 135 aircraft - 80 Halifaxes, 47 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos -
of 6 and 8 Groups. 2 Halifaxes lost.
Some bombs fell in the railway yards but the main weight of the raid
missed the target and fell on nearby civilian housing. 128 civilians
were killed.

126 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups to Hasselt in
norrth-eastern Belgium. The target was marked and 39 aircraft bombed,
but all missed the railway yards because of thick haze and the Master
Bomber ordered the bombing to stop. 5 Lancasters lost.

105 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 3 and 8 Groups attacked the railway
yards at Louvain near Rennes but the main weight of the bombing hit
the railway workshops and nearby storage buildings. 4 Lancasters lost.

53 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitos attacked railway
yards at Trouville, south of Le Havre. The bombing was accurate and
a large explosion was seen. No aircraft lost.

53 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitos attacked a gun
position at Colline Beaumont near Le Touquet. The target proved difficult
to mark and no results were established. No aircraft lost.

Total effort for the night: 725 sorties, 16 aircraft (2.2 per
cent) lost.

12/13 May 1944

Louvain: 120 aircraft - 96 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, 4 Mosquitos -
of 6 and 8 Groups. 3 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost. The bombing was
more accurate than on the previous night and considerable damage was
caused in the railways yards.

Hasselt: 111 aircraft - 100 Halifaxes, 7 Lancasters, 4 Mosquitos -
of Nos 4 and 8 Groups. 6 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost. Most of the
attack fell in open fields and only a few bombs hit the railway yards.

22 Mosquitos of No 8 Group attempted to block the Kiel Canal by laying
mines from low level. Intelligence sources had said that the flak defences
on part of the canal had been removed. 20 Mosquitos laid their mines
in this stretch; 1 aircraft lost.

16/17 May 1944

18/19 May 1944

17 Mosquitos on Oboe calibration tests to targets in France. 4 aircraft
bombed Mondeville and 2 bombed Orly; others did not bomb. 7 RCM aircraft
also operated on this night. No aircraft lost.

19/20 May 1944

143 aircraft - 106 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters, 5 Mosquitos of Nos 4 and
8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Boulogne. Only 1 of the Oboe
Mosquitos was able to mark the target but the bombing was accurate.
The local report says that the main station was badly damaged; 33 civilians
were killed. No aircraft lost.

118 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups carried out a
particularly accurate attack on the railway yards at Orleans. 1 Lancaster
lost.

112 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of Nos 5 and 8 Groups found that their
railway target at Amiens was cloud-covered and the Master Bomber ordered
the attack to stop after 37 Lancasters had bombed. 1 Lancaster lost.

113 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to attempt the difficult
task of attacking the railway installations in the centre of Tours.
A previous No 5 Group raid had destroyed the yards on the outskirts
of the town. Both the marking and the bombing force were ordered to
carry out their tasks with particular care and to be prepared to wait
until the Master Bomber was satisfied that the surrounding housing areas
were not hit. The raid continued until well after the planned period
but no fighters appeared and no aircraft were lost. Much damage was
caused to the railways but some bombs did fall to the west of the target.

Le Mans: 112 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of Nos 3 and 8 Groups. The
majority of the bombs hit the railway yards and caused serious damage.
The local report says that the locomotive sheds were destroyed, an ammunition
train (or some ammunition wagons) blew up, 2 main lines were destroyed
and all other lines blocked because overhead power lines were brought
down across the tracks. Unfortunately the Lancasters of the Master Bomber
and his deputy collided over the target and crashed. The Master Bomber
was a brilliant young New Zealander, Wing Commander JF Barron, DSO and
Bar, DFC, DFM, and the Deputy Master Bomber was Squadron Leader JM Dennis,
DSO, DFC They were both killed; both were from No 7 Squadron. 1 other
Lancaster was lost.

58 Halifaxes of No 6 Group and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitos attacked a coastal
gun position at Le Clipon but there was haze and the results are not
known. No aircraft lost.

63 aircraft - 42 Halifaxes, 15 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos of Nos 6 and
8 Groups bombed a gun position at Merville near Dunkirk. Some bombs
did fall in the battery position despite the presence of haze. No aircraft
were lost.

39 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 8 Group to attack a radar station
at Mont Couple. The Mosquitos were not able to use their Oboe equipment
but 31 Lancasters used their H2S sets to make a timed run
from the coast and bomb the approximate position of the target. 1 Lancaster
shot down by flak.

Total effort for the night: 900 sorties, 7 aircraft (0.8 per
cent) lost.

20/21 May 1944

Düsseldorf: 30 Mosquitos. The target area was cloud-covered and
the Oboe markers quickly disappeared into the cloud. Most aircraft bombed
on dead reckoning but this must have been inaccurate; Wuppertal, 17
miles east of Düsseldorf, reports 71 people killed on this night.
No Mosquitos lost.

21/22 May 1944

510 Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups carried
out the first large raid on Duisburg for a year. 29 Lancasters were
lost, 5.5 per cent of the force. The target was covered by cloud but
the Oboe skymarking was accurate and much damage was caused in the southern
areas of the city.

Total effort for the night: 716 sorties, 32 aircraft (4.5 per
cent) lost.

22/23 May 1944

361 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups carried
out the first large raid on Dortmund for a year. 18 Lancasters were
lost, 4.8 per cent of the force. The attack fell mainly in the south-eastern
districts of Dortmund, mostly in residential areas.

Brunswick: 225 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 1 and 5 Groups. 13
Lancasters lost, 5.5 per cent of the force. This raid was a failure.
The weather forecast had predicted a clear target but the marker aircraft
found a complete covering of cloud. There was also interference on the
Master Bomber's radio communications, The No 5 Group method could not
cope with these conditions and most of the bombing fell in the country
areas around Brunswick. A reconnaissance aircraft flying through this
area an hour later found it completely free of cloud.

133 aircraft - 112 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 6
and 8 Groups again attacked the railway yards at Le Mans. The local
report confirms that the bombing was accurate, with much damage to the
railways and the nearby Gnome & Rhone factory. 1 Halifax lost.

Orleans: 128 aircraft - 108 Halifaxes, 12 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos -
of Nos 4 and 8 Groups. 1 Halifax lost. Most of the bombs fell on the
passenger station and the railway-repair workshops.

26 Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen and 9 to Courtrai, 9 RCM sorties, 21 Serrate
and 8 Intruder patrols, 54 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off
the French coast, 25 OTU sorties. 1 OTU Whitley was lost, probably the
last Whitley to be lost on operations.

Total effort for the night: 1,023 sorties, 34 aircraft (3.3
per cent) lost. The raids on Dortmund and Brunswick were the last major
Bomber Command raids on German cities until after the invasion forces
were firmly established in Normandy.

24/25 May 1944

442 aircraft - 264 Lancasters, 162 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitos - of all
groups except No 5 to attack 2 railway yards at Aachen - Aachen-West
and Rothe Erde (east of the town). These were important links in the
railway system between Germany and France. 18 Halifaxes and 7 Lancasters
lost, 5.7 per cent of the force. The Aachen report duly records that
the 2 railway yards were the targets attacked, with the railways to
the east of Aachen being particularly hard hit. But, because this was
a German town, Bomber Command sent more aircraft than normal for railway
raids and many bombs fell in Aachen itself and in villages near the
railway yards.

59 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group were dispatched to attack
the Philips factory at Eindhoven but the Master Bomber ordered the force
not to bomb because of bad visibility. 1 aircraft did not hear the order
and released its load. No aircraft lost.

Total effort for the night: 888 sorties, 26 aircraft (2.9 per
cent) lost.

26/27 May 1944

30 Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen, 11 to railway yards at Aachen and 8 to
Lison, 7 Serrate patrols, 42 aircraft minelaying off Dutch, Belgian
and French coasts. 2 Mosquitos were lost from the Ludwigshafen raid.

27/28 May 1944

331 aircraft - 267 Halifaxes, 56 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - to attack
the military camp at Bourg Léopold in Belgium. 9 Halifaxes and
1 Lancaster lost, 3.0 per cent of the force. 1 Oboe-aimed target indicator
fell right on the target and the bombing which followed caused severe
damage to the camp.

162 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups to attack the
Rothe Erde railway yards at Aachen. 12 Lancasters lost, 7.0 per cent
of the force. The railway lines at the yards, which were not seriously
hit in the raid of 2 nights earlier, were now severely damaged and all
through traffic was halted. A large proportion of delayed-action bombs
were dropped. The local people were impressed that the whole raid only
lasted 12 minutes.

100 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to attack a railway junction
and workshops at Nantes. The first 50 Lancasters bombed so accurately
that the Master Bomber ordered the remainder of the force to retain
their bombs. 1 Lancaster lost.

78 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 8 Group attacked the airfield at
Rennes in good visibility. The marking was good and the bombing was
very accurate. Much damage to the airfield installations was caused
and there was a large explosion, probably in the bomb dump.

28/29 May 1944

118 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of 3 and 8 Groups attacked the railway
yards and junction at Angers. 1 Lancaster lost. The Bomber Command report
describes this as 'a good, concentrated attack' with the tracks and
rolling stock very seriously damaged. A brief report from Angers, however,
shows that much of the bombing must have fallen outside the target.